Christmas comes hand-in-hand with throngs of last-minute shoppers as well as anyone and everyone who still needs to run errands this time of year. Fortunately for all involved in the Christmas mayhem, a smattering of local retailers are posting a few hours for the two busiest days of the year. So if you’re still choosing the right Christmas lights in preparation for having the family over on Christmas day, don’t worry! There’s still time.
In terms of grocery stores, Safeway (Countryside Drive) will be open until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. They do not have hours available on Christmas Day, but have offered their Modesto store on McHenry Avenue as a substitute, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Costco (Tegner Road) will also be open Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Smaller convenience stores will also be open. Dollar General (Geer Road) will be open until 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and closed on Christmas Day. CVS (Geer Road and Lander Avenue) and 7-Eleven (Geer Road) are open 24 hours, and most Walgreens will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m on Christmas.
There are also some great options for dining on the big days. Sizzler (Hotel Drive) will be open on Christmas, as will Denny’s (Lander Avenue). Pancake house IHOP (Countryside Drive) will be open from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve and until 1 p.m. on Christmas Day.
Hometown Buffet (Countryside Drive) will also be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Christmas Day. In the same parking lot, Applebee’s will remain open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
For those looking to relish in the fact that the Big Mac isn’t really gone, the McDonald’s on Geer Road will be open on Christmas. So will the Countryside Drive location, which will remain open until 10 p.m. Also in the Countryside parking lot, the Panda Express will be open on Christmas Day.
Although the Starbucks in the Target plaza will only remain open on Christmas Eve, the drive-thru Starbucks on West Main will be open until 8:30 p.m. on Christmas Day. The Geer Avenue Starbucks will also be open that day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For last-minute gifts, there are a number of stores that will be open up until Christmas Eve. In fact, Kohl’s will remain open 24 hours until 6 p.m. on Dec. 24. Lowe’s (Entertainment Way) has hours from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Michael’s (Geer Road) will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Home Depot (Countryside Drive) closes slightly earlier, at 5 p.m.
Both Target and Walmart will be closed Christmas Day, but do have limited hours on Christmas Eve. Target (Countryside Drive) will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 24 and won’t reopen until Dec. 26. Walmart will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. TJ Maxx will be open on Dec. 24 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and none of the aforementioned stores will be open on Christmas Day.
And lastly, for those Christmas Eve movie-goers, Regal Turlock Stadium 14 (West Main Street) will be showing various movies throughout the day, with the latest showing being “Wild” and “Top Five” at 7:40 p.m. Christmas Day movie-goers can even catch a showing of “Into the Woods” as late as 10:40 p.m.
Most retailers will be open and resuming their normal hours on Dec. 26 in order to accommodate those with returns and exchanges. Restaurants will also be open in order to feed shoppers taking advantage of the post-holiday sales.
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I wish more restaurants were open on Christmas Day. As a senior, I’m not up for cooking a traditional meal anymore and I can’t always visit family. As long as workers have a choice to work on Christmas, it would be great to go out for lunch/dinner that day. BTW, TCN, I forgot my login info, but when I tried to retrieve it, even after several tries, I couldn’t get that jumbled word correct. I understand the use of the precaution, but do the words need to be unreadable? My ability to decipher the word can’t really insure I’m not a troll.